For anyone paying attention to the national Occupy movement, you knew protesters were playing an age old game of chicken with local and government authorities. Who would be the first to give in was a question posed in any observer’s mind. Well, with recent events over the past week, the answer is here: the authorities. Occupy Wall Street has seen a surge in media coverage since local NYPD displaced the long time inhabitants of downtown New York City’s Zuccotti Park and footage of UC Davis students getting pepper sprayed by university officials went viral on the web. As authorities and local officials crack down on occupy movements across the nation, and eviction deadlines loom for many protesters, the response seems to be “we are here and we are not moving.”
Hot spots like Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, L.A., Washington DC. Philadelphia, and others face shrinking tolerance of local officials, but many are refusing to back down. This weekend L.A. protesters defied a deadline put in place by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for their removal from City Hall and the surrounding park. As conflict becomes a growing issue, many supporters believe it will be a positive step forward for the movement. Group organizers and leaders are finally having to make some major decisions as the movement moves into a new self determining phase. Some feel it will help focus the movement and create solidarity in place of its often criticized divided membership. Conflict represents the first true test for Occupy. How resilient will it be? Has Occupy only been a show or does it truly personify the feelings of most Americans?
Debate is widespread on what direction Occupy should or will move, but if one thing is clear for now, there remains strong support for a movement focused on challenging the status quo and economic disparity in America. Videos of the UC Davis police officer pepper spraying famous works of art, to music videos from performing music stars like Lupe Fiasco and Miley Cyrus, to an interview with a protest injured Iraq veteran, continue to draw more followers.
Gene Sharp, an extensive writer on nonviolent movement and struggle and political science professor, would call this “political jiu-jitsu.” A type of non-resistance that forces the government or government agencies to react harshly, weakening their own agenda of suppression. With Occupy, it is currently practicing a form of political jiu-jitsu. Occupy has forced a retaliation that did exactly what most wanted, violence and brutality that dramatizes the situation and mobilizes a larger population. It might not grow protest numbers, but it will grow the number of sympathizers. Those who were on the fence or not yet persuaded, are now provided a reason to join in support. So the Occupy movement faces its greatest test and defining moment in these next few weeks as it responds to the demands and action of state and city officials.
Only the future can answer the question: will the movement mobilize a larger citizenry? If any critique has the power to dismantle the spirit of Occupy, it is that it does not truly represent the 99 percent of America. Though being able to represent 99 percent of a country as diverse as the United States seems impossible, there is hope in the effort. Because Occupy symbolizes an idea that is very powerful. It has close parallels to that of the Solidarity Movement that took place in Eastern Europe during the 80s and 90s that brought down the Soviet Union. That hope, that idea, is to recognize a new way of thinking. To bring change through local action not national thought. Occupy does not need to be political because if one thing can be agreed upon in America, it is that nothing can be agreed upon in Congress. What Occupy represents is a change in our idea of America, a revision of democracy, a re-evaluation of capitalism. Occupy does not need to make a list of legislature or 10 step action program for the government. Occupy needs to change minds not laws. If we change enough minds, the laws will follow. That is what lies ahead for Occupy Wall Street. Will Occupy mobilize a nation ambivalent and apathetic even to its own destruction? Because if it does, exciting times are ahead of us.
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